Abstract: I write to praise home-grown, local art--the kind of art that typically gets little respect, the kind we Americans have traditionally felt could not be as good as anything that comes in from out of town. I also write to make a case for the positive and important role local art can play in regular, sequential dance education at the K-12 level. This article grew from an exchange that I recently had while defending a grant proposal, an experience that made me think through my ideas about American culture and the preconceptions and indifference the arts regularly encounter on a local, everyday level. Because in my professional life I am a modern dance choreographer, the administrator of a dance festival, and a dance educator, my analysis necessarily includes all three perspectives.